Woburn Public Schools present FY26 budget: $96.4 million request, special education and literacy top priorities

School leaders and the Woburn School Committee presented the school department’s FY26 budget — $96,402,440 — to the city’s finance committee and described the priorities that funding supports, including literacy, special education and expanded student opportunities.

School Committee Chair Ellen Crowley opened with an overview of district programs, asserting that the budget is “about people” and urging the council not to make further cuts. Superintendent (Dr.) comments and presentations from assistant superintendents and administrators emphasized return on last year’s investments: new reading specialists (K–8), expanded arts and music programming, an early‑college program allowing students to earn up to 12 college credits through UMass Lowell, expanded early‑childhood programming, and facility safety investments including rekeying classroom doors.

The committee said the budget it passed had been reduced by $440,000 from its initial request; staff cited 52 individual line reductions completed after a three‑year line‑item review. School officials said they regularly seek grant funding and move eligible positions into grants where possible.

School finance items that drew council attention included: - Special education: staff reported a roughly $33 million special‑education budget. Officials described investments that keep students in‑district where possible to avoid higher out‑of‑district tuition costs. Councilors were told that special‑education expenses can spike when new students with complex needs move into district schools. - Special‑education transportation: the budget reflects a substantial increase tied to the SEAM collaborative’s updated contract rates. Officials said the collaborative remains their primary, cost‑effective vendor but that a rate re‑bid and the resumption of pre‑COVID rate increases led to a one‑time rise in costs. - Salaries and contractual adjustments: the school administration explained that some salary figures in the budget reflect contract adjustments, stepped increases and internal reassignments; the committee asked for more line‑item backup and a few councilors requested an addendum showing recent contractual changes.

School leaders described how they analyzed and reduced lines in December before submitting the FY26 request, and they asked councilors to consider the district’s strategic investments and recent measurable gains in literacy (measured by DIBELS testing) when evaluating the request. Several councilors said they wanted a more accessible, periodic update cycle (quarterly liaison meetings) and requested an electronic file listing positions and salary roll‑overs ahead of public deliberations.

Councilors also discussed facilities and long‑term capacity, including whether the district could consolidate or repurpose existing buildings (for example to house an expanded early‑childhood program) and the fiscal tradeoffs of renovation vs. new construction. Officials said repurposing a building such as the former Wyman School would raise compliance and accessibility issues and that in‑district programming remains the preferred approach to control special‑education costs.

The school committee plans to continue discussions with the mayor’s office and the council; councilors asked for supplemental documentation (salary roll‑overs, the 52‑line change log, and the opioid fund worksheet mentioned earlier) before further budget votes.